Applied Kinesiology: Correcting the Body in Motion

If you have recently sustained an injury or disorder that impedes your strength and range of motion, our chiropractor in Birmingham may employ a method of care known as applied kinesiology. Following your injury, you may have been frustrated in your quest for a clear diagnosis of the underlying problem. While many such injuries have obvious direct causes, such as repetitive motion strain or a traumatic impact, others may seem to arise without any symptoms at all. It may even be possible that the pain and limited mobility you are experiencing stems not from an injury at all but from some other cause entirely.

Applied kinesiology is the study of a body's ability to move and perform specific tasks. This technique was formulated for Western practitioners in the 1960s by Dr. George Goodheart, but it also owes a debt to ancient Asian healing practices. Chinese traditional medicine worked on the assumption that disrupted energy flow in one part of the body could have drastic effects on another part. Today's sports chiropractic specialists recognize the truth of this general idea, since we know that an impinged or impaired nerve may create referred pain or other symptoms in an apparently unrelated area. Applied kinesiology allows our chiropractor to put the patient's body to the test in several ways to measure muscle response. By understanding when and why a muscle demonstrates weakness, we can determine the underlying cause and prescribe the appropriate treatments.

To diagnose a sports chiropractic case through applied kinesiology, we begin with the usual consultation in which we take your medical history, ask about any known conditions you currently suffer from or medications you take, and inquire about your symptoms. If we feel that these symptoms might have their roots in an internal organ or hormonal problem, we may perform diagnostic tests to eliminate or confirm that possibility. Our chiropractor will then observe the patient's posture and gait for irregularities that might indicate a spinal misalignment or muscular imbalance.

The actual muscle testing occurs with the patient in a standing, sitting or lying position, depending on the muscle groups being tested. We apply pressure to an arm or leg and ask the patient to resist with a counterforce. If the limb fails to do so, it may indicate a problem with a specific nerve or nerve root, which we can treat with spinal manipulation, massage and other treatments for natural, lasting sports injury relief. If the limb suddenly seems to lose its strength while the patient is exposed to a specific stimulus, then we may have discovered an allergy or nutritional imbalance that we can treat through dietary or lifestyle adjustments.

To learn more about applied kinesiology or other types of sports chiropractic care, we encourage patients to contact our chiropractor in Birmingham for an initial consultation.

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